Snowmobile attachment.



F. BORG & E. W. LANTZ. SNOWMOBILE ATTAGHMENT. APPLIOATION FILED MAY 19, 1910. RENEWED D150. 11, 1911.

Patented Jan116, 1912.

v 2 SHEETS F. BORG & E. W. LANTZL SNOWMOBILE ATTACHMENT.

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UNITED- STATES PATENT oFFIon.

FRED BORG AND EDGAR W. LANTZ, OF HANNAH, NORTH DAKOTA.

SNOWMOBILE ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Jan. 16,1912.

Application filed May 19, 1910, Serial lilo. 562,213. Renewed December 11., 1911. Serial No. 665,372.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,-Fnnnl3one and En- GA'R W. LANTZ, citizens of the United States, residing at Hannah, in the county of Cavalier and State of North Dakota, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Snowmobile Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

sists of an vided with This' irlv ention relates to snowmobile attachments for wheeled vehicles and it con-v rdinary automobile body profront guiding sled and a rear stationary sled in lieu of the ordinary wheels,

a. suitable power motor carried by the body having suitable controlling means, a propelling means carried upon the .rear axle and pivoted thereto, and means for raising and lowering said propelling means to place the same into and out of contact with the-surface over which the vehicle travels.

, An object of the invention is the provision of novelmeans for securing the front sled in pivotal relation to the front axle without any reconstruction thereof as compared with the usual structure of such devices and also for rigidly securing the rear sled to the rear axle.

Another object is to provide a novel man+ ner-of securing a suitable'propelling means upon the rear axle in pivotal relation thereto and having operative connections with the motor by which said means, preferably in the form of traction wheels, are driven and controlled. y

A still further object is to provide means for raising and lowering said propelling means and also to provide a suitable cover therefor.

Other objects and advantages will be aparent from the following description, and it will be understood that changes in the specific structure shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spiritof the invention. Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved snowmobile,

accompanying drawings, like characters denote like parts in the several views and in said drawings the numeral 10 designates the body of the vehicle to which our invention is applied and may be of any suitable construction, a gasolene or other motor 11 being suitably carried thereby and having the usual propelling shaft 12, for a purpose to be hereinafter made more clearly ap Jarcut. The particular form of motor and means for controlling the same ,from the drivers seat may be of any well kpown construction but we have shown an operating lever 13 for said motor but as the specific construction thereof forms no important fea' t-ure of the present invention, further disclosure thereof is not made.

Conveniently positloned'm front of the .drivers seat is the usual steering wheel 14::

having a suitable standard 15 properly con nected to the steering rods 16 and 17, said latter rods being connected to the, usual front steering axle of the vehicle, though the same is shown as having its end portions connected to the main central portion of the axle by suitable vertical pivot connections 18, so that the vehicle may be guided in the desired direction.

The front or steering sled is rigidly con nected. to the vertically pivoted end portions of the front axle and as shown comprises the runners 19 which are of the usual design but are preferably constructed of metal and as is more clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, said runners have their longitudinal edges bent in opposite directions, the outer edges being turned upwardly and the inner edges downwardly or vice-verse as shown, so that the runners may glide over the snow or icy surface but by reason of the downturned edges, will be prevented from skidding especially when the vehicle is traveling over uneven or sloping surfaces.

The runners are provided with flexible connecting rods 20 which are swivelly connected to the forward upper ends of the runners and are provided for-bracing the same against independent outward move ment. Disposed centrally of the length of the contacting portions of the runners and secured thereto are the inverted V'shaped brace members 21which are rigidly held in position by means of the forward brace arms 22 disposed one above the other and connected to the members 21 and the upturned front portions of the" runners and also by means of the rearwardly extended steering wheel and the intermediate parts connecting the same. For this purpose we provide the diagonal supporting arms which are secured to the arms of the members 21 at the point of connection of the members 24 thereto and are also rigidly secured to the axles adjacent their outer ends and retained in place thereon by means of the usual securing nuts 26, said supporting arms 25 being rigidly braced by means of the vertical arms 27 which are also rigidly connected to the pivotally mounted ends-of the front axles adjacent their connection with the main central portion thereof, and

said supporting arms are securely retained in position by means of the rods 28 which are secured'to the arms 25 at the points of connection of the arms 27 and also to the members 21 adjacent the upper portions thereof. It is therefore obvious that the runners are operated in a similar manner as the wheels of an ordinary automobile and in order that they may have a free pivotal movement the upper portions of the members 21 are provided with a fiat bearing surface 29 so that as'the outerends of the axle are swung forwardly or rearwardly through the steering rods, said bearing surfaces 29 will slide under the axle and may be lubricated to reduce friction therebetween. The rear sled is constructed simila-rly to the front sled and both of said sleds are properly secured to the body of theve hicle with intermediate springs 30, but as i so shown, the upper portion of the inverted v-shapedmembers 21 are rigidly secured to the axle by means of the staples 31 and the central portion of the axle is bowed upwardly as shown at 32, for a purpose to be hereinafter more fully described.

The frame upon which the propeller wheels are mounted. comprises the side arms 33 which are pivotally connected to the rear axle a short distance inwardly of each end by means of the clamps 34 which allow of the ready detachment thereof if necessary. Said side arms are rigidlybraced and held in parallel relation by means of the cross braces 35 which are extended diagonally from the opposite ends of the respective arms and a drive and differential gear casing is earned at the rear ends of the arms.

controlling tubular sleeve 37 which terminates in the enlarged portion 38 and adapted to contain the proper gearing, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4 of the drawings and the drive axle 39 is revoluble in the extensions 40 of the gear casing which are rigidly secured to the side arms 33.

The axle 39 has operative connection with the motor 11 by means of the intermediate shaft 41 which is provided with a universal coupling 42 so that said shaft will compensate for the unevenness of the surface traveled over and may drop out of the bowed portion 32 of the rear axle should the propeller wheels be disposed in a lower grade or move upwardly into said bowed position when raised.

Rigidly keyed upon each end of the axle 29 are the propeller wheels 43, which comprise the usual hubs 44, spokes -15 secured. thereto, and enlarged engaging heads 51 of knife form.

In the use of the propelling device the wheels are normally in contact with the surface but it is necessary at times to elevate the same and for this purpose we provide the bell-crank lever 5 1 which is pivotally mounted upon the body of the vehicle at one side thereof, one arm of the lever being connected to one of the side arms 33 by means of the link 55 and the other arm of the lever being connected and operated by the usual controlling lever 56 by means of the rod 57, so that movement of the controlling lever in either direction will transmit motion to the bell-crank lever to raise or lower the propeller frame and wheels thereof as desired. The propeller wheels are also provided with a suitable cover 58 which is rigidly carried by the propeller frame of the vehicle in any desirable manner.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that we have provided an automobile sleigh which can be very cheaply manufactured as a whole or the attachment may be provided separately and sold as such and by reason of its simplicity and efliciency in operation may be readily applied to vehicles of the usual type.

What is'claimedis:

1. The combination with avehicle body having a rigid rear axle and a front steering axle and means for operating the same? of sleds correspondingly carried by said axles, the runners of said steering sled being connected at their forward ends, av motor carried by said body and having suitable means, a frame pivotally mounted. upon the rear axle, a drive axle rotatably mounted at the rear end of said frame, propeller wheels rigidly carried at the ends of said drive axle, said rear axle having an intermediate bowed portion and a power shaft operatively connected with the drive axle and having a universal connection with the shaft of the motor wherebyit will be permitted movement downwardly out of the bowed portion of the rear axle 2. The combination with the usual auto mobile body having a rigid rear axle and a front steering axle provided with steering means; of sleds secured to said axles, a frame structure pivotally secured at the rear of the body and comprising side arms and cross braces connecting said arms, a gear casing ,at'the rear ends of said arms, a drive axle rotatable therein, a motor. carried by the vehicle, geared connections between the motor and the drive axle, drive wheels secured to the ends of the drive axle in alinement with the runners of the rear sled, means for disposing said traction wheels into and out of engagement with the surface traveled over and a cover for said frame, said cover being carried thereby.

In testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures, in presence of two witnesses.

FRED BOB-G. EDGAR W. LANTZ.

Witnesses:

ALEXANDER REID, HENRY EDWARD FAY. 

